Kalispell yard has some stinky visitors

Sherry Baker thinks it stinks that skunks keep invading her yard.

One actually made it through a pet door into her house before scooting away.

Another time, her schnauzers Heidi and Gretchen cornered one in the yard, and paid the price.

Last week, two skunks burrowed under her fence into her yard on South Woodland Avenue.

That was the straw that broke the polecat's back. Baker has now had 14 skunks invade and be trapped in her yard since July 2006.

No other Kalispell home has even remotely tallied that many skunk appearances, said Mike Hall, who does not specifically remember any other skunk complaints in his 14 years as city animal warden.

"I can't be the only one in the city with skunk problems. I don't know why [they constantly burrow into my yard]. They like me, I guess," Baker said.

She speculated that nearby housing construction is displacing skunks who then wander to her fence, burrow under it, and hang around her yard. Baker does not keep any pet food outdoors.

Baker doesn't hate skunks. In fact, her family had a pet skunk, Spunky, when she was a girl.

But Baker now has two dogs and three cats who wander in and out of the house through a pet door. Dogs and skunks don't mix well. Cats avoid the critters.

Also, skunks carry rabies, which Baker frets about.

Consequently, Baker said she approached the city and county animal wardens in July 2006 about getting rid of her skunks - although Hall does not remember the call. Baker said the wardens told her that they have no jurisdiction over wild skunks.

Therefore, when she would spot a skunk in her yard, she would hire Wallace Wildlife Services to trap and kill the varmint at $35 a head. One month, four skunks were trapped.

Last week's two trapped skunks sent Baker to complain to Kalispell's two Ward 4 City Council members, Tim Kluesner and Duane Larson - arguing that city taxes for animal control should also apply to yard-invading skunks.

Hall has priced two animal control services and sent the financial figures to other city officials this week to see if the city can hire an agency to trap skunks on a complaint basis.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com